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The Beet: A Podcast For Plant Lovers

The Magic of Bats as Pest Control

The Beet: A Podcast For Plant Lovers

Epic Gardening

Home & Garden, Education, Leisure, How To

4.81.6K Ratings

🗓️ 19 June 2023

⏱️ 14 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Bats may have a frightening reputation, but these misunderstood mammals are excellent pest-controllers in the garden. Connect With Merlin Tuttle: Dr. Merlin Tuttle is widely recognized as the father of modern bat conservation; he is an ecologist, wildlife photographer, and conservationist who has studied bats and championed their preservation for over 60 years; widely recognized as the father of modern bat conservation. He's the founder of Merlin Tuttle’s Bat Conservation, home to his legacy and devoted to research, education, and the conservation of bats, where he is currently and solely active. Through MTBC he provides the world's finest bat photo gallery, the most up-to-date responses to exaggerated disease speculation, and it is the only place to access his more than 60 years of unique experience or support his continuing efforts. Joined by Teresa Nichta ("nikta"), Outreach and Collection Manager at Merlin Tuttle’s Bat Conservation. Teresa manages Merlin’s extensive photographic collection as well as social media, video production, field planning, development, correspondence, and all things in between. Website Twitter Instagram Facebook YouTube Buy Birdies Garden Beds Use code EPICPODCAST for 5% off your first order of Birdies metal raised garden beds, the best metal raised beds in the world. They last 5-10x longer than wooden beds, come in multiple heights and dimensions, and look absolutely amazing. Click here to shop Birdies Garden Beds Buy My Book My book, Field Guide to Urban Gardening, is a beginners guide to growing food in small spaces, covering 6 different methods and offering rock-solid fundamental gardening knowledge: Order on Amazon Order a signed copy Follow Epic Gardening YouTube Instagram Pinterest Facebook Facebook Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hello everyone, welcome back to the show today and this week it is Bat Week here on the

0:16.7

Epic Gardening Podcast.

0:18.1

We have Dr. Merlin Tuttle on the show, widely recognized as the father of modern bat conservation

0:24.6

and he's an ecologist, a wildlife photographer and a conservationist who studied bats and

0:28.4

champion of preservation for over 60 years and is the founder of Merlin Tuttle's bat conservation

0:34.0

and he's joined by Teresa Nicta who is the outreach and collection manager at Merlin Tuttle's

0:39.5

bat conservation.

0:40.5

So thank you both so much for coming on the show and I'm really excited to talk about bats

0:44.4

with you both.

0:46.4

Thanks, Kevin.

0:47.4

Happy to be here.

0:49.0

So you know, from the Gardner's perspective, I'll confess here in San Diego at least I think

0:54.6

I maybe have seen a bat once or twice.

0:56.6

I don't know if my eyes were deceiving me or not and as we go on through the week I'll

1:00.3

share that I do have a bat house on the property, though I'm almost positive I haven't set

1:05.7

it up correctly.

1:07.0

But maybe we could start with Merlin just your background, I mean you've been doing this

1:11.2

for such a long time.

1:12.2

I'm curious how it all started for you.

1:14.8

Well I've been studying bats for almost 65 years.

1:19.2

I've photographed or studied them in 45 countries, spent hundreds of hours in caves surrounded

1:29.1

by thousands, sometimes even millions of bats.

...

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